Waste fibers, dust and lint tend to accumulate on the knitting machine parts and are occasionally knitted into the fabric causing defects in the knitted fabric and, in some cases, causing damage to the knitting needles and other parts of the knitting machine. Various types of air blowing cleaning devices have been provided for blowing away and removing the waste fibers and lint before they can accumulate to the point that they cause damage to the machine and/or the knit fabric.
These known devices usually include one or more air jet pipes or nozzles with an opening at the outer end. These air jet pipes are usually rotated in the same or opposite directions to that of the revolving needle cylinder and are normally directed to blow waste fibers from specific locations on the knitting machine.
Japanese Patent Publication No. SHO 52-33705 discloses an arrangement of air jet pipes which rotate in the opposite direction to that of the revolving needle cylinder and the open tip of the air jet pipes is located at the level of the knitting ledge of the sinkers so that the air is directed against the knitting stations surrounding the needle cylinder. The outer end portions of the rotating air jet pipes are positioned at an angle so that the air is directed in generally the direction of the revolving needle cylinder so that the air is directed generally in the same direction as that of the yarn being fed to the knitting needles. In accordance with this invention, the open tip or orifice of the air jet pipe is directed in a specific direction so that waste fiber removal is limited to a relatively narrow area of the knitting machine.
In order to clean a wider area to clean several positions on the knitting machine, a plurality of air jet pipes would be required. However, even the provision of a plurality of air jets still provides limited blowing action on particular locations of the knitting machine and still does not insure the removal of lint and the like from positions between the locations where the air jets are directed. Also, the use of a large number of air jet pipes results in a decrease in air pressure, and/or the need to substantially increase the amount of air supplied to the knitting machine. A larger number of air jet pipes also requires a more complicated mechanism for revolving the plurality of air jet pipes.